€5.2m paid in tax settlement by car dealer Murphy & Gunn

Dublin car dealer Murphy & Gunn has paid more than €5.2 million to settle tax liabilities with Revenue.

The dealer was one of three defaulters to settle for in excess of €1 million on a 182-strong list of names published yesterday that also included former Kerry North Fianna Fáil TD Denis Foley.

Mr Foley paid a total of €580,000 in tax, interest and penalties over a €186,646 liability arising from an Ansbacher account.

The revelation in January 2000 that Mr Foley held a secret offshore account - part of the Ansbacher Deposits - led to his suspension from the Dáil, and his departure from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.

Though aware that he may have held an Ansbacher account, Mr Foley failed to come forward until he was exposed. At the time he was deputy chairman of the Dáil Committee of Public Accounts that had been at the forefront of the drive against tax evasion with its public hearings into the DIRT scandal relating to bogus non-resident accounts. Mr Foley retired from politics at the 2002 general election.

A total of 118 names on the list published yesterday, which deals with cases concluded between October and December 2004, relate to bogus non-resident accounts - yielding revenue of €22.9 million to the Exchequer in tax settlements, penalties and interest.

A further six Ansbacher-related cases involved payments of €2.2 million.

The settlement by Murphy & Gunn - together with a €665,000 settlement from the group's director Tom Murphy - accounted for nearly a fifth of the €32.25 million in settlements reached by Revenue with the 182 people named in Iris Oifigiúil. A further €164.24 million was raised in smaller settlements.

The long-established holder of BMW, Lexus and Toyota franchises was caught for failing to fully declare VAT, PAYE and PRSI. In addition, it held a bogus non-resident account, as did Mr Murphy, a son of the group's founder.

Mr Murphy was also penalised for not fully declaring his income tax and capital acquisition tax liabilities.

Apart from Murphy & Gunn, two defaulters settled their affairs with Revenue for more than €1 million.

They are publican Finbarr Cogan, of Carrigaline, Co Cork, whose €1.7 million settlement in respect of a bogus non-resident account and underdeclaration of income tax, VAT, PAYE and PRSI was the largest individual settlement, and retired Co Kerry doctor George Lyons from Tralee, who paid €1.25 million.